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Lorelei the Reborn
“From even the greatest of horrors, irony is seldom absent. Atlantis can burn in the nine hells for all I care. I have sacrificed enough. Beware the fury of a patient woman.” -Philoktia History Jotunheim’s plan would soon come to fruition. Philoktia was a Tiefling who had been freed from Alpha’s mind control and made a part of Jotunheim’s original rebellion, and one of the Illuminated’s first members. She was one of the first people to come to the free city of Arendur. When Tolumvire returned to Arendur and reorganized the cabal, she was placed under the command of Tan Blackhand, the Master of the Light. Deceptive and misleading, Philoktia owned a number of powerful relics, which she used to manifests powers she did not truly have. As one of Tan’s followers, she conducted intelligence operations for the Illuminated, and accompanied him and Arazon to Caprakan. It was there that she and other mages heard about Arendur’s war against Ragnarok, but were ordered by Tan not to participate. After Arendur lost, and Tolumvire was exiled, the Illuminated was taken over by the Doppelganger, who reorganized the structure of the cabal, consolidating the five branches under his direct command. Tan, though effectively cut off, continued obeying Tolumvire’s orders. It became clear to Philoktia and the other mages that Tan had likely anticipated the defeat of Arendur, and chose to retain his power base. He was a relic of the past, the second apprentice of Tolumvire and a rebel of some stature. Philoktia continued operations under Tan Blackhand, although morale was low, as many of his followers saw him as a deserter and wished they could have fought for Arendur. Additionally, they had to lay low, for the destruction of Caprakan at the hands of Lord Nylock had turned the mages of the Illuminated into pariahs. Tan proved to be more farsighted then anyone could have imagined, for when Tolumvire returned from exile, he was not surprised. Tolumvire contacted him, reinstating him in his position as Master of the Light and ordering him to continue his task. When Tolumvire became the Emperor of Arendur, control of the Illuminated was passed to Jotunheim, Tan’s original master and a close confidant. When Arendur was attacked by demons, Jotunheim summoned him to defend the city. Tan obeyed, bringing his best men with him and leaving the rest behind. He never returned, and it would be long afterwards that those left behind would learn of Arendur’s destruction. Philoktia and the other mages were abandoned on a strange and hostile land. Some fled, others tried to continue their duties, and others perished due to illness or violence. Eventually, they had scattered and disbanded, fleeing from the vengeful survivors of Caprakan. Philoktia herself fled south, leaving behind all her artifacts and hiding in a cave for two decades. During this time, she managed to slowly build a psionic beacon to contact the main branch of the Illuminated, only finding the final pieces after years of searching. The beacon went out, reaching Jotunheim, who immediately brought the Tower to Philoktia’s hiding place. Jotunheim was astonished to find a female Tiefling, realizing that she would be a perfect vessel for Lorelei’s soul. He brought her to the tower, where she met Tan Blackhand, and learned that he had survived the war. There she also met two men who were then strangers to her - Emperor-in-Exile Ramander, and Vamnas Vuhlanath, the Royal who Ran. Ramander introduced himself and explained who he was, going so far as to hint that he expected her loyalty to be to him first and foremost. Vamnas only extended basic courtesies, keeping his name and identity private. Jotunheim presented her with the dregs of Lorelei’s souls, which she was to crush in her hands and consume. It was a traumatic process, with the soul being a vile thing to intake, forcing Philoktia into a semi-conscious state in which she dreamed a surreal version of Lorelei’s life. All the while the Grand Master of the Illuminated sealed their essences together. When this was finished, Vamnas expected to take Philoktia under his wing and explain her role to her, but Jotunheim refused. He sent her to retrieve the psionic probe she had built, and while she was gone, he immediately removed the Tower, leaving her behind. Tan was angry that Jotunheim had abandoned one of his followers. Vamnas was angry that he was putting Lorelei’s soul in such danger. Ramander was angry that Jotunheim was letting the situation out of his control. Jotunheim simply explained that if Philoktia was to ever rule Atlantis, she must seek strength by herself. Stranded in Caprakan, Philoktia realized that her psionic probe had attracted the attention of the Node Controllers, who hunted her down. Gleeful to have found one of their hated foes, they decided to punish her by giving her as an offering to Atlantis. They summoned the Raine Knights, who dragged her down to Sunken City, completely unaware of the power of her soul - the soul of the Heir of Atlantis. Personality Philoktia invites interest, but the first impression is illusory - there is nothing interesting about her. A habitual liar and misanthrope, she is answers only to her own self-interest and is startlingly incapable of introspection. Humorless, bleak, and remorseless, she craves revenge against slights real and imagined, and is fixated on shallow, grandiose dreams of power. She is a capable yet untalented wizard, a passable yet unimaginative weaver of illusions. Had whimsy and circumstance not thrust her into the spotlight and bestowed upon her great power and a solemn duty, she would have been of no importance to history. Following the destruction of the Throne of Atlantis, Philoktia only superficially resembles the woman she once was. Having seen eldritch truth, she is transformed on the inside and the outside, a herald of madness and desolation. The favored herald of the great old Tholorhee and of the great old ones at large, she is possessed by a diabolical insight and fervor untempered by mortal frailties. Leadership Style During her brief tenure as Atlantis' monarch, Philoktia demanded a worshipful attitude from her subjects, reveling in the myth of Lorelei and the awe that it inspired. Treacherous and brutal, she expected loyalty but never returned it, promising power and rewards but never delivering, resorting to magical control and threats of death in the face of disobedience. Faithful followers would be used and discarded, and anyone who wronged the vengeful Queen of Atlantis would never be forgotten. Death was first and last punishment meted out to those who presumed to cross a monarch who never forgot a grudge. Feats of Magic Philoktia was never a particularly powerful mage, in comparison to the other Philosopher-Kings. She was a capable illusionist, and wielded hellfire in battle as befitted a Tiefling of her descent. Generally eschewing outright mind control, she favored leaving her foes stunned and reeling by use of trickery, hypnosis, and brute psychic force. She would leave behind no meaningful research or discoveries of her own. * Philoktia's illusions partook of reality to a greater extent than was normally possible, having a seeming tangibility that bewildered attempts to see through them. * Philoktia had a limited ability to alter the language of the Spellweave, refashioning existing spells to serve new purposes. War of the Philosopher-Kings Alongside Khamsa, Philoktia would escape Sunken City, spending the duration of the war on the run. She would return to Atlantis close to the war's conclusion, marrying King Raine and bestowing control of the Throne of Atlantis upon him. She would swiftly turn on him, killing him and destroying the Throne, rousing the Deep Ones from their slumber. What became of her next was unknown. After the War Philoktia, having broken the Throne of Atlantis and woken from the Deep Ones from their slumber, would accept the service of the resurrected Kade and the sixty-six corrupted Raine Knights. The short-lived Queen of Atlantis would commandeer a ghost ship crewed by the Drowned Ones and captained by her one-time ally, James Crawford. With the Deep Ones on her side and a crew of the lost and the damned to obey her, Philoktia would begin to prey on other ships, than on the Isles, and then finally on her ancestral home - the Final Empire itself. Legacy (Shadows Projected on the Wall) Though Lorelei was little known outside of Atlantis, her actions proved the death knell for the ideals behind the Philosopher-Kings. Even proponents of autocratic wizarding rule - what few remained after the War - could not deny it had only been a matter of time before such a mage would grotesquely misuse their mandate. No one had truly believed that a seemingly sane and respected woman, raised in the Final Empire and trained in the Illuminated, would ally herself with the Great Old Ones. Wiser heads knew that the signs of Lorelei's unhinged nature had been present from the beginning, and that the true madmen were those who gave her the key to the gates holding back the Great Old Ones. For the good of all mankind, there would be no Philosopher-Kings to follow her. Category:Tieflings Category:Mages Category:Arendur Category:Illuminated Category:Will Category:Four Tales Category:Player Characters Category:Philosopher-Kings Category:Atlantis